Christmas Time

It's THAT time of year!!!!!

 

It's almost Christmas! My kids are excited and are wishing for a white Christmas. It can happen here in Georgia and it did back in 2010. It won't this year though.

 

Aside from the baking and movie watching that is happening over here, we are still milking cows and making cheese.

In fact, I think I have the Camembert cheese down quite well. I also have several hard cheeses in the cave aging for at least 3 months.

 

 

Usually it is Zeb who hangs out with me the entire time I do cow chores, but Fletcher decided to visit with me instead.
He is barefoot and in unmatched pajamas. His hair is a mess too, but that doesn't stop him from having fun.

Today after milking we had lots of baking to do for Devin's birthday tomorrow. I am taking full advantage of this weekend and plan to squeeze in a movie later this evening.

I took this picture to illustrate how much cows love being together in a herd. These ladies are done being milked but will stand outside the gate until the last cow is done, then they head out to pasture together. In the meantime they pass time by licking each other on the faces and butting heads. True cow fellowship.

It affords me the chance to snap a cow selfie. I prefer the *cow face* over the *duck face* personally.

I hope everyone has a fabulous Christmas and is able to enjoy the time with family. I have simple plans here for us. Warm home, good food, family movies.
It is nice to be able to stay home and enjoy down time after the last couple of very hectic weeks.

See you after the holidays!!!!

It's All About Quilts and Hotdogs and Turkeys

Wow! What a week we've had over here!
To start, the AQS Quilt Show was in Chattanooga. This means I spent two full days at the show looking at beautiful quilts, volunteering as a show hostess, shopping and even taking a class.

Devin and the kids managed to keep chores done while I was gone, and I was happy to have a few days of fun.

The class I took was a fabric dyeing class taught by Cindy Lohbeck of Hands on Hand Dyes. This class was so much fun and I left with 6 yards of my own hand dyed fabric, ready for a quilt.

The fabrics were dyed using only 3 packs of dye, but we ended up with 24 different colors. I can't wait until she comes back next year, and I will be taking one of her other classes!


Saturday we had fabulous fall like weather. The breeze was so nice and the humidity was low. This, of course, means perfect back yard fire pit weather.

We had an impromptu hotdog and s'more roast for dinner. Everyone enjoyed the weather and the fire pit food.

The puppy enjoyed himself and made himself a comfy spot on Indiana's back. Silly pup.


This weekend we also decided to move the turkeys out of a chicken tractor and into a fenced area.

This chicken tractor is meant for the pastured chickens and I really needed to use it for that purpose. The turkeys also needed more room to move around.

Instead of buying another portable poultry fence (I am feeling cheap), we decided to let the hens free range and use their fence for the turkeys. I will still need to build a better rain shelter and move the fence every few days, but this seems to be working well.

The birds like the space and grass for sure, and you will not notice any complaints from the free ranging hens. My drive will be sprinkled with poo for the next couple of months, but that is not the worst thing.

The hay is also being cut, so of course it is overcast and threatening rain today. We are hoping to get it all cut, baled and put up before it starts raining...or maybe the weather is bluffing. It might not rain at all, but we could sure use some sun to dry the cut hay. Either way, it looks like we will have around 700 bales to get us through winter. Once we are done putting it all up I can let the cows back out to free range as well.

Today we get back to the books and school work. Fall is around the corner, which means more back yard fires in the near future! Hope your week is a productive one!

Happy Monday Ya'll!

Mother Nature Wins

As always, Mother Nature periodically rips through to make sure we all know she is still in charge.
Here in North Georgia she has shown us her strength and fury with tornados.
Tonight she is dancing in with strong winds and a freeze.
It had been really nice here this week and my trees decided it was time to bloom. My peach trees and plum trees I had so carefully pruned are blooming quite beautifully.
Tonight it will dip down into the upper 20's, freezing my blooms and robbing me of a nice fruit harvest. I sure hope the weather man is wrong with this prediction.

                                      ***First signs of spring are the dandelions***

At any rate, I made sure the sheep were locked into a cozy stall and the baby ducks and chicks are back in my basement, safe from the cold wind.
The heat has been turned back on, and the kids are tucked into bed under warm quilts.

                               ***This free range rooster follows the horse and scratches the horse manure, leaving the grass better fertilized and free of "poo clumps"***


This past weekend we celebrated the birthdays of my number 2 and number 3 kids.
We had a nice family party complete with an ice cream cake and a homemade cheesecake. Earlier in the week we took each one out for lunch and a little shopping.

                                                ***Indiana turned 13****

                                                      ***Quinn turned 15***

This weekend I am taking my two oldest to Huntsville so they can attend the Home School Prom with some friends. I will be sure to update Monday and let you all know how our first prom goes:-)

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For those of you who are local, we are still taking pre-orders for pastured chickens. They will be ready in late June. The deposit is $5 a bird and the remaining $10 is due when you pick it up.

I also have one more slot open for the Bee Keeping Workshop on April 13th. The cost is $50 but you will take home a fantastic bee keeping book and the confidence to keep your own hive. As a bonus you can meet the new lambs and give Lucy a nice scratch behind the ear.

Contact me via email: mybarefootfarm@catt.com


I hope that spring is showing itself where you are and that if you are getting this cold, blistery weather I hope you are tucked into a warm house.

Have a fantastic day!!

The Exhaustion of Being Blessed

Exhaustion is my word for the day. Today is the day you are warned about, the day that you will be up past your eyeballs in things to do and yet NOTHING gets done. OK, let me back up a bit. I did the essentials. My kids and I did school, we learned about Africa (specifically Egypt) and how the Nile runs opposite of how you think. I cooked breakfast, reheated leftovers for lunch and made dinner, compete with dessert. Kids have been read to, played games with and given baths. I stayed extra optimistic because my dear husband has been a little less than optimistic today. Laundry was done and folded and put away. The baby has been nursed, and nursed, and nursed some more. I discovered that if I sit in the recliner still for longer than 5 minutes I fall asleep.
Despite all of this I know more than ever we will have more. More exhaustion, more demands, more meals, more stories and more games...more children. I would be tempted to say that I am ready to have "me" time. I am tired of constantly giving of myself. I am through having kids and babies and all it includes. Yes, despite all of this I know that these are treasures worth more than anything. These are blessings that have been graciously given to me. Who am I to refuse such a blessing? If I have nothing else ever in the world, I have these blessings. My children. My family.

So the extra things on my to do list are pushed back for another day. The quilts, the scarves, the organized house they can all wait.

If I could stop time and lock up these days into a bottle I would. These days where we don't HAVE to go anywhere. These days when we can play, we are all together and the biggest decision amongst us all is which movie to watch. I look back on all of the days I did not appreciate it enough. Those days when I only had toddlers at home were special days that flew in a flash. I am sure I spent too much time focusing on things that in hindsight were not as important as the time spent with my babies. I am wiser, more mature now. I only want to soak up the days, even if they are crazy at times.

We are always busy. We are also always very blessed. Even though I am exhausted to the point of sleeping in the big easy chair when I sit down, I know I am very, very happy.

The Barefooters

Barefoot Farm was named so because of the fact that the children and my husband do not wear shoes 99.9% of the time. Honestly. I cannot lie about such a matter.
Another fact is that when you live here, not only are shoes optional but hair brushing is optional as well. At least that is what I tell myself each day when my kids walk around at noon with a "bed head."

Allow me to introduce the family:

 This is Journee, the oldest, and her dog named Zelda. Journee does most of the chores here that relate to the chickens and ducks. She is my favorite.

This fisher woman here is Quinn. She helps me out a bunch with the youngest and hopes to someday catch a bigger fish than the one pictured. She is my favorite.

 This girl is Indiana. She was named after our favorite movies and has grown to fit the name. She is sometimes called "firecracker" because she is very spirited. She's my favorite.

 Willow is my fourth girl and she is very sweet and motherly. She also has one dimple, on the right side of her face. That makes her special and my favorite.

 Rose is the youngest daughter. She likes to dance and has a very contagious laugh. She's also my favorite.

Yes, we had a boy. He is Zeb. He spends his days trying to throw things down the stairs and plug things into outlets. He's all boy and of course, my favorite.

Then there is the baby, Fletcher. Now we have 2 boys who get into everything, but we wouldn't have it any other way! Of course the baby is the whole family's favorite!

 This here is Devin, my husband and fellow bee keeper. The barefoot gene comes directly from him, as do the funny senses of humor. The jury is still out on where the lack of hair brushing gene is from...it could possibly be from us both. He is also one of my favorites.